Is Greed Good? Series

I had a coworker once who came to work in a bad mood. He was all sullen and silent during the squad check and I asked him what was wrong.

He said, “Remember that enclosed hot tub I built last year on my backyard deck? Everyone loved coming over for cookouts and enjoying my hot tub. Then my neighbor went and built one bigger than mine, and everyone wants to go to his house how. We were both on our decks the other day and he looked at me and grinned. I know what that grin meant….he was bragging his was better than mine! I’m going to add on to mine and show him! I’m going to work an extra 24 hr shift a week until I have enough money to expand and then everyone will see I have the better setup.”

Now I don’t have a problem working hard for things you want. I do the same thing. God blesses hard work, and would rather have you work hard to earn the resources to get your possessions rather than go into debt for them.

The problem is when they become objects of worship, or objects that meet a need inside you that is supposed to be filled by God.

Next to physical illness, most of the misery in our lives is caused from greed.

Greed is the destroyer of contentment and contentment is the root of peace.

This is probably one of the concepts that we as Christians in America struggle with the most because our entire way of life is built on this nebulous thing called the American Dream-

If I had to describe the American Dream to someone I would say it’s the requirement and a sense that we deserve to have a nice house, a nice car, a great job, a wonderful marriage and family, and an awesome, long retirement where you drift off into the next life with no pain or regrets.

This may step on a few toes this morning, but the bible has something to say about this mindset. Jesus in the book of Revelation describes the Christian chasing after the American Dream like this-

Rev 3:17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Spiritually speaking- it’s placing all of your trust, all of your sense of self-worth and all of your confidence in created things, and not in your creator God.

God wants your life to revolve around HIM, because within HIM is safety. Within God there is fullness of Joy, and within God there is peace everlasting.

Two thoughts before we move onto the last part of today’s message.

The first one comes from Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley- the great evangelist and worship leader that blazed a trail of revival across America in the 1700’s and formed the Methodist church.

Young John Wesley asked his mother what sin was, and she has this amazing quote I want to share with you this morning because it also applies to what coveting would be-

“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.” Susanna Wesley